MINNEAPOLIS - Racial justice advocates say they hope their movement doesn't slow down after the recent anniversary of George Floyd's death and the conviction of Derek Chauvin. Minnesota groups continue behind-the-scenes work they feel will contribute to ending systemic racism.

The spring saw activists and their supporters holding rallies similar to last year. Christian McCleary, an activist working with programs such as the Council for Black Male Success in St. Paul, said those visible elements of the demand for change are important.

But he said it can't be the only way to achieve equality.

"It's beyond just the policing," said McCleary. "It's the housing, it's the education, it's the mentorships, it's the relationships. All of those things are not being prioritized. "

The Council was formed about six years ago through the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation. Its mission centers around life-long mentorships for Black males.

Floyd's death sparked more awareness about Minnesota's longstanding racial disparities, and the Foundation says solutions have to be community driven.

The Foundation also is investing in the Family Housing Fund, which focuses on equitable and affordable housing across the Twin Cities region.

The group's Vice President Colleen Ebinger said a new program helps Black, Indigenous and People of Color residents become owners of two- to four-unit properties.

"Disparities in wealth, in this state and also across the country," said Ebinger, "are largely due to disparities in property ownership."

She said owning a duplex or triplex can not only give marginalized residents extra rental income, but the Fund estimates it can provide about $300,000 in net wealth over 15 years.

The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation's Senior Vice President of Community Impact, Pahoua Yang Hoffman, said this behind-the-scenes work at the community level was going on prior to the racial reckoning.

She added the collective effort should be at the center of the movement towards transformative change.

"Our community members already know what the need to do," said Hoffman. "But they need the time and the resources to support their work so they can show up and build coalitions, build partnerships. And this is the hard, long-term work."

Beyond the community level, other organizations and activists continue to press policymakers at the Minnesota Capitol. They're hoping for adoption of additional police accountability measures.

SALT LAKE CITY - With rising numbers of people targeted in hate crimes and related violence, a new report analyzes the hate-crime laws in each state.

The Movement Advancement Project and 16 partner organizations detail the patchwork of state laws in ten areas, and make suggestions for how states could move forward to reduce hate crimes.

Naomi Goldberg, deputy director of the group behind the report, said Utah updated its hate crime statute in 2019 to be more inclusive after violence against an immigrant man. But she said the state lacks support services for victims.

"We know that hate violence impacts those individuals," said Goldberg, "who may often need mental health care, potentially physical health care, and other pieces to help recover, but also communities that experience hate violence need those kind of supports."

The FBI consider a hate crime as an act of violence against people based on race, religion,
disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.

Goldberg said law enforcement agencies in Utah collect data on hate crimes, but only on a voluntary basis. She notes data collection is vital to get a full picture of what's happening in a state.

Goldberg said adequate law enforcement training also is crucial, along with solutions that focus beyond prison walls. She said several states have created sentencing options that don't strictly involve incarceration, and are instead based on restorative justice practices.

"That could include education, it could include actually engaging with victims and helping to build understanding," said Goldberg. "Which, when we think about hate violence, I think it's important that this isn't just a crime that happens. This is hate that is in our community, and intolerance that's in our country. So, how do we actually get to that root cause?"

Ultimately, Goldberg said eliminating hate violence will require society-level changes.

"We can't think about hate crime laws as a single solution," said Goldberg. "We really need to be thinking more broadly."

Partners for this report include the Anti-Defamation League, Matthew Shepard Foundation, National Black Justice Coalition and National Disability Rights Network.

DENVER - As Congress struggles to pass legislation to boost recovery from the pandemic's economic fallout, tax experts are urging lawmakers to invest in policies that benefit working families by taxing the rich.

Chuck Marr - senior director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - said expanding access to affordable housing, quality child care and other supports can help families re-enter and remain in the workforce, and begin to close a widening racial wealth gap.

He pointed to recent reports showing that the nation's wealthiest households and corporations pay little or no income tax, the nation's primary tax revenue stream.

"And the idea here is just (to) raise taxes on the wealthiest people in the country," said Marr, "and to use that revenue to improve the economic opportunities and stability of working middle-class families."

Coloradans now seeing hundreds of dollars each month deposited in their bank accounts through the temporary Child Tax Credit, a policy projected to dramatically reduce child poverty, would continue to receive those benefits under proposals making their way through Congress.

Democrats also are pushing to expand access to health care and giving all workers access to paid family leave.

Critics warn that expanding safety-net programs will usher in an age of big government, and some lawmakers say raising taxes would slow economic recovery.

Marr said people have become wise to claims that cutting taxes boosts economic growth, and points to polls showing Americans overwhelmingly support raising taxes on the people who can most afford to pay.

"There's just an absence of evidence that cutting taxes for rich people and large multinational corporations has economic benefits," said Marr. "It's sort of the 'trickle down economics' for the last 40 years, and it failed over and over again."

Marr said tax policy can be crafted to narrow the nation's racial wealth gap, or it can continue to allow wealthy families, which are overwhelmingly white, to pay little or no taxes.

Marr said making investments in programs that help the bottom 60 to 80% of households, where people of color are disproportionately represented, would be a step in the right direction.

EAST TROY, Wis. -- Wisconsin is at the center of a lawsuit targeting federal debt relief for farmers of color.

The suit was filed this spring by a Wisconsin-based conservative law group. The plaintiffs argued specialized aid in the American Rescue Plan unfairly excludes white farmers.

Those assisting BIPOC farmers said they are finally getting attention after being left behind for far too long.

Donale Richards, food systems program manager at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, contended it speaks to the lack of awareness of the scope of aid programs.

"Most of the time, when people are making these types of arguments, they don't necessarily have the facts," Richards asserted. "They just look at, 'Why am I being held back?'"

Richards pointed out aside from historical land access issues and loan discrimination, USDA programs are restrictive for BIPOC farmers. He argued the screening process is onerous, making it hard to qualify for aid.

The Environmental Working Group reported last year, white farmers received nearly 97% of the aid from the USDA's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Meanwhile, the lawsuit has temporarily halted this year's loan forgiveness efforts approved under the Rescue Plan.

Richards noted aid from certain USDA programs, like ones that help farmers just starting out access equipment, tend to have a short window. That can limit the growth of BIPOC-operated farms once the equipment breaks down.

"The intent is to really make a huge impact in a year or two," Richards stated. "But there really isn't given much thought to five-year plans or ten-year plans."

The Institute is ramping up outreach through its own Food Systems program. It gives aspiring farmers, especially those from traditionally marginalized ethic groups, a broad layout of the U.S. food system and how to best navigate its layers.

Over the past century, the acreage owned by Black farmers in the U.S. has been cut in half. Less than 1% of Wisconsin producers are Black.